Apparatus for positioning reinforcement mesh in concrete



Aug. 30, 1960 E. SMILEY 2,950,659

APPARATUS FOR POSITIGNING REINFORCEMENT MESH IN CONCRETE Filed Jan, 3.1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll!ljlllllllllllllllllli Q INVENTOR.

Aug. 30, 1960 E. I. SMILEY 2,950,659

APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING REINFORCEMENT MESH IN CONCRETE Filed Jan, 5.1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ffi/RL 1," 5/471. 27

Patented Aug. 30, 1960 APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING REINFORCE- MENT MESH DJCONCRETE Earl I. Smiley, Peru, Ind., assignor to J. C. OConnor & Sons,Incorporated, Fort Wayne, Ind., a corporation Filed Jan. 3, 1956, Ser.No. 557,128

3 Claims. (Cl. 94 39 This invention relates generally to apparatus forplacing reinforcement steel in concrete highway slabs and moreparticularly it relates to apparatus for positioning reinforcement meshin concrete at a predetermined depth Within concrete immediately afterpouring thereof.

It is conventional practice to lay a concrete highway by running aconcrete mixer along the highway and pouring the concrete on the roadbedin a continuous operation. When it is specified that steel reinforcementshall be introduced into the concrete, at first method comprises placinga single concrete mixer in a given position and a bottom course ofconcrete is spread and struck off over an area sufficient to permit theplacing of sections of reinforcing mesh. After the mesh is placed inposition, additional concrete is poured to obtain a slab of desireddepth.

Another method consists in using a single mixer and moving it over anextended length of roadbed, pouring a bottom course of concrete overwhatever length of roadbed may be deemed practical under existingconditions or as permitted by prescribed specifications. Thereinforcement mesh can then be placed on the concrete and the concretemixer may be moved back to the starting point and a second course ofconcrete may be poured over the reinforcement mesh.

Still another method consists in using two concrete mixers, the firstbeing utilized to pour a bottom course of concrete, the second mixerbeing placed behind the first mixer a distance sufiicient to permit theplacement of the reinforcing mesh and being utilized to pour the secondcourse of concrete.

Conventional methods of pouring concrete for' reinforced concretehighways create substantial inefiiciencim in the building of concretehighways. Where a stationary mixer is used, it is usually located to oneside of the roadbed and causes all of the activities such as pouring theconcrete, placing of joints, and placing of reinforcement mesh in aconfined area. As a result, efficiency and speed are sacrificed.

Where a single mixer is utilized to pour a bottom course of concrete, itis necessary that a portion of this course of concrete be subjected tothe efiects of the sun while the setting process begins. This limits theamount of time within which the reinforcement mesh can be laid and thesecond course of concrete poured. Also, there is the additional hazardthat the mixer may break down leaving a bottom course of concrete in theprocess of setting, without the addition of the final course ofconcrete. This means that the initial course of concrete may be lost andwill have to be removed before the building of a highway can continue.The same type of loss can occur in the event of a sudden heavy rainfall.There is also time lost in shifting the mixer back to pour a V finalcourse of concrete.

When two mixers are used, the amount of customary equipment is doubledin that two concrete Spreaders, two finishing machines, two longitudinalfloats, twice as many forms, twice as much water supply, etc., arerequired to lay the same amount of concrete. Also, a long length ofbottom course of concrete is exposed and subjected to the same breakdownand weather hazards as mentioned above in connection with the use of asingle mixer.

Accordingly, the principal object of this invention is to provideapparatus adapted to permit the pouring of a concrete slab to its fulldepth and to insert reinforcing mesh therein to a predetermined depthwithin the poured slab.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for placingreinforcement mesh at a predetermined depth within a poured and crownedslab of concrete.

Still another object of this invention is to provide vibratory apparatusadapted to place reinforcement mesh at a predetermined depth within apoured concrete slab, said apparatus comprising individual andseparately supported elements which may be individually adjusted toconform with the crown of the slab.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided apparatus forpositioning reinforcement mesh in a poured concrete slab comprising awheel-supported frame which may be moved along the form structure, aplurality of aligned vibratory units having horizontal sliders mountedthereon and adapted to extend into a poured concrete slab-to apredetermined depth, a rotatable lifting apparatus extending across saidframe over said units, adjustable links suspending said units from saidrotatable members for positioning said units to conform with the crownof said concrete slab and stop means operatively associated with thesaid lifting mechanism and said frame for determining the exact depth ofpenetration of said slider units within said concrete.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus; and

Fig. 3 is a partial cross, section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2 andillustrating the suspension mechanism for the vibratory mesh-placingunits.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus for placing reinforcement meshin poured concrete comprises a rectangular frame having end members 10and side members 11. Extending between the end members 10 are two spacedrotatable shafts 14 and 15, rotatably mounted at their respective endsin sockets 16. porting hangers 17 and 18 for shafts 14 and 15 areprovided on the cross beams 19 and 20.

A plurality of individual vibrating units 22, 23, 24, and 25 aresuspended from the shafts 14 and 15 by means of forward links 27 andadjustable rear links 28, the adjustable links comprising turnbucklespivotally connected between levers 29, fixed to the rear shaft 14, andsupporting arms 30 connected to the main body 31 of each vibratory unit,

Intermediate sup-,

The forward links 27 are pivoted between the arms 32 fixed to forwardshaft 15 and the supporting, arm 33 fixed to the main body of eachvibratory unit.- The lower ends of each link 27 are provided with aslot' concrete.

3 35 which receives a pivot pin or bolt 36, thereby providing a certaindegree of play between the vibratory unit and the forward supportinglink. Pull-rods 26 may be secured as illustrated in Fig. 3 between anysuitable frame member and each end of each vibratory unit such as unit25.

In order to lift and lower the vibratory units, the shafts 14 and 15includes two pairs of crank arms 38 coupled in any suitable manner tohydraulic jacks 39, pivotally mounted as at '40 tosu'pporting plates 41'b'oltedo'r otherwise fastened to the channels 19 and 20. When thehydraulic units39-are operated, the cranks 38 rotate shafts 1 14 and 15to lift or lower the vibratory units. The units may be adjusted upwardlyor downwardly by means of the adjustable turunbuckles 28, each unitbeing adjusted in height to conform to a specified degree of crown in ahighway being poured.

In order to provide lowering of the vibratory units 'to a. pre-setdepth, stop members'42 are fixed to channels '19 in a position tocooperate with lever members 43 and 44 mounted on and fixed to shafts 14and 15, respectively.

Each lever arm 43, 44 is provided with adjustable screws 45 and 46 sothat when the hydraulic units 39 are operated to'lower the vibratoryunits, screws 45 and 46 move into engagement with the stops 42 to limitthe downward movement. By adjusting screws 45 and 46, the'lowermostposition of the vibratory units can be established and this depends onspecified crown of the slab and to some extent on the specified depth towhich reinforcement is to be set within the poured concrete.

For pushing the mesh downwardly into the concrete,

each of the vibratory units 22-45 is provided with a plurality of spacedslider elements 48, the forward ends 49 of which may have a curvedprofile adapted to engage This invention also provides apparatus forplacing reinforcement mesh in poured'concrete even though the concretesurface must have a crown. This result is obtained by providingadjustable supports for the mesh vibrating units which may be utilizedfor supporting each of a plurality of vibrating units at a predeterminedlevel.

The invention claimed is:

1. Apparatus for positioning reenforcernent mesh in a poured concreteslab comprising a supporting vehicle movable over said slab, a front anda rear rock shaft mounted in spaced parallelism transversely of andsupported by said vehicle, a vibratory unit disposed beneath saidshafts, horizontally disposed sliders extending down- 7 wardly from saidunit in alignment with the direction the reinforcing mesh 50 for ridingover the mesh and.

pushing it downwardly.

Each vibratory unit includes a conventional electrically driven vibrator51 so mounted as to provide vertical vibration to each unit.

In order to provide forward motion of the vibrating units, the frame10--11 is provided with wheels 53 which are driven by means of a shaft54 suitably connected to a driving engine 55 and to at least one pair ofwheels 53 through the sprockets 5657 and chain 58.

For operating the hydraulic lifting units 39 a hydraulic pump 60 may beconnected to engine 55 and to the hydraulic units 39 by means ofconventional hose connections 61.

The electrical vibrator units 51 may be coupled to a motor generator 62by means of the conductors 63.

In operation, the adjustable vibrator unit supporting 7 links 28 may beadjusted to support the ends of the vibrator units in such a way as toconform with the specified crown in a highway. Also, the screws and 46in the levers 43and 44 may be adjusted to hold the vibrator units at theproper level such that the sliders 48 penetrate the concrete to thedepth at which it is desired to place the reinforcement mesh 5 0.

After initial adjustment of the respective positions of the vibratingunits, they may be lowered or lifted by means of the hydraulic units 39controlled from the control levers of the hydraulic pump 60. With themotor 55 driving wheels 53 slowly in a -forward direction and with thegenerator 62 operating the vibrator motors 51, a concrete reinforcementmesh may be placed on top of poured concrete and vibrating action ofeach of the vibrating units 2L-25 gradually moves the mesh 50 downwardlyinto the concrete to a predetermined level.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that this inventionprovides apparatus which materially reduces the number of machinesrequired to construct a reinforced concrete highway. This isbecause ofthe fact that 'the concrete maybe poured to its full depth by a singleconcrete mixer after which reinforcement mesh y Placed at a pe ified d pwithin the p red of travel of the vehicle to project into said slab,front linkage means pivotally connected between the front por tion ofsaid vibratory unit and said front rock shaft, said linkage meansincluding a free floating connection for permitting vertical movement ofsaid vibrator-y unit, a rear linkage means pivotally connected to therear portion of said vibratory unit and said rear rock shaft, said 'rearlinkage means establishing a pivot for vertical rocking of said unit,means for rocking said shafts to elevate and lower said vibratory unitwithin predetermined limits, and draft means connected at one end .tosaid vibratory unit andat its opposite end to said supporting vehicleforwardly of said unit, whereby said vibratory unit rocks on said rearlinkage means in a vertical direction.

'2. Apparatus for positioning reenforcement'mesh in a poured concreteslab comprising a supporting vehicle movable over said slab, a front anda rear rock shaft mounted in spaced parallelism transversely of andsupported by said vehicle, a pair of arms projecting laterally andforwardly from said front shaft, a pair of similar arms projectinglaterally and rearwardly of said rear shaft, a vibratory unit disposedbeneath said shafts, 'horizontally disposed sliders extending downwardlyfrom said unit to project into said slab and aligned with thelongitudinal axis of said vehicle, a pair of adjustable supporting linkspivoted at their upper ends to said rearwardly projecting arms andpivotally' connected at their opposite ends to the rear portion of saidvibratory unit,

tative'movement of each of said shafts in one di-rection, and alongitudinally adjustable pull rod pivotally connected at one end to theforward portion of said vibratory unit and at its opposite end to'saidsupporting vehicle forwardly of said unit.

3. Apparatus for positioning reenforcementmesh in a poured concrete slabcomprising a supporting vehicle movable over said slab, a front and arear rock shaft mounted in spaced parallelism transversely ofand'supported'by said vehicle, a lever projecting radially of each rockshaft, a pair of arms projecting laterally and forwardly from said frontshaft, a pair of similar arms projecting laterally and rearwardly ofsaid rear shaft, a vibratory unit disposed beneath said shafts,horizontally disposed sliders extending downwardlyjfrom said unit toproject into said slab and disposed in parallelism with the longitudinalaxis of said vehicle, a pair of adjustable supporting links pivoted attheir upper ends to said rearwardly projecting arms and pivotallyconnecte'dat their opposite ends to the rear portion of said vibratoryunit, a pair of links pivotally connected at their upper ends each toone of said forwardly projecting arms, a pin and slot'connection betweenthe lower endsof said 'for-.

ward links and the forward end'of said vibratory unit, means for rockingsaid shafts, a stop element inthe path of ement of each said lever tolimit the rotative move- 5 ment of each of said shafts in one direction,and a longitudinally adjustable pull rod pivotally connected at one endto the forward portion of said vibratory unit and at its opposite end tosaid supporting vehicle forwardly of said unit. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,029,659 Greiner Feb. 4, 1936 10 6 McCrery May 26, 1936 Day Apr. 13,1937 Baily Oct. 5, 1937 Baker June 10, 194] Jackson Sept. 2, 1941Jackson Oct. 14, 1941 Jackson Nov. 11, 1947 Baltes Nov, 30, 1954 JacksonNov. 15, 1955

